Perhaps this is the most beautiful and
profound game of the whole of the
19th century?
Maybe. But it certainly (easily) belongs in the list of: "The Ten Most Beautiful and Brilliant
Games of The Nineteenth Century!"

(Zukertort ran away with this event,
in perhaps the most dominating
tournament performance ever!!).

***

Click
HERE to see this game deeply
annotated, but in (pure) text form only.

The
comments in brackets,(<<
Blah-blah-blah >>); refer to an earlier version of this game
...
that I did for another chess server. These comments were added to this version
in November, 2004.
---> The variations that were added in the brackets are NOT replayable!

1.c4!?, {Diagram?}
An English Opening. This was unusual for those days.
(White is heading for a standard
"Queen's Gambit Declined,"
position.)

1...e6; 2.e3,
White's scheme of development will block in his QB, but in those days, this
was NOT
considered a handicap. In fact, the line of thinking by just about every
master BEFOREPillsbury was that the White (dark-squared) QB belonged on the
Queen-side.

Compare
this development to the modern move order:1. d4, d5; 2. c4, e6;
3. Nc3, Nf6; 4. Bg5, "+/=" (The "Pillsbury
Attack.")
Here the QB is developed outside the pawn chain. But this mode of
development did
not become popular until well after Hastings, 1895 - the tournament where
Pillsbury came
in as a rank outsider, and walked away with first prize.

[ 2. d4!? ].

2...Nf6; 3.Nf3b6; {Diagram?}
This is definitely a hyper-modern looking
set-up.

<< Fianchetto's were popular in the 16th and 17th centuries. Then for over 150 years masters moved
away from this idea. It was not until the advent of the hyper-moderns that Masters - once more -
began to embrace the strategic ideas of placing a Bishop on the long diagonal.
{Reti, Nimzovich, etc.} >>

7.Nc30-0; 8.b3,
(hmmm)<< Trying to activate the QB, which is currently a very passive piece.
(It is hard to believe that this is the piece ... on the long diagonal ...
that will strike the decisive blow!!) >>

White's next move gains the
advantage of the two Bishops. 10.Nb5!Ne4!?; (hmmmm)
<< Possibly a dubious concept ... why not the simple ...P-QR3?
>>

<<
White wins the minor exchange ... and then proceeds to eject the strong Knight on the
e4-square. >> 11.Nxd6cxd6; "~"
{Diagram?}
A closed position that the computer
says is nearly equal.

Now White smartly prepares to
rid himself of the annoying Black
Knight that is on the e4-square. 12.Nd2Ndf6; 13.f3Nxd2; 14.Qxd2dxc4; 15.Bxc4!d5!?; {Diagram?}
Gaining a tempo, but turning Black's
QB into a rather bad piece.
(Really - '?!')

28...R8c5; {Diagram?}
<< The great Joeseph Henry Blackburne felt that this was forced ... and many
people later agreed with him.
[ According to several computer programs, ...Re8;
might be a slightly better play here. ] >>

Black could also try: 28...Qg7!?;
{Diagram?} Several programs seem to think this is forced.
But White is still
probably winning after Rg3. ].

<<
White now founds an astounding Rook sacrifice ... all for the sake of a single tempo, (and to decoy the
Black Queen from the defense of the Black foot-soldier on e5).
>> 29.Rf8+!!,
Yet another stunner of a move.

30.Qxe4+Kg7; {See the diagram - just below.}
<< Black is just managing to hold on. >>

<< The position is interesting ... and well worth a diagram here.
>>

31.Bxe5+!,
A beautiful move, given an exclam
by dozens of writers and in many books.

'!' - Andy Soltis.

<< Seemingly the best move ... and most books or authors do not even offer a comment at this point in this
historic contest. (However, most books give this move an exclam in
this position.) But did White miss a
much better move in this position?

This
game is a GREATLY shortened version of the game as I originally did it in my "cb" files. This is because that version, (the long one)
- with a diagram after every move, and plenty of analysis diagrams to boot - runs more than thirty
pages.

I
plan (perhaps) on later adding a complete TEXT-SCORE of this game. That way, if you are interested, you can see how detailed the notes are,
and maybe better appreciate just what a fantastic game this really is.